London Irish's Joe Ansbro tries to break through the Edinburgh defence in the Heineken Cup tie at Madejski Stadium. Photograph: Warren Little/Getty Images

It was not the best of weeks for England midfielders. Little more than 24 hours after his former sparring partner in white, Mike Tindall, had been dumped by England two months earlier than had been expected, Shontayne Hape blunted his case for remaining in the elite squad after a costly loss of discipline 12 minutes from time.

Irish were leading by two points when Hape, having played a central role, hit David Denton so hard in a challenge – which took in shoulder and jaw – the flanker had to be helped from the field in a confused state with a dent on more than his pride.

Denton had knocked the ball on as he came to a juddering halt and from the resulting scrum, Dan Bowden's kick ahead looked like being caught by Hape as it crossed the line, but a nudge from Tim Visser put him off balance and after he had failed to ground the ball, Denton's replacement, Sean Cox, aggressively confronted the centre. Cox later appeared to elbow Hape in the face as he lay on the ground and the feud between the pair cost Irish.

Hape was shown a yellow card after the video referee took an inordinate amount of time harshly deciding that Visser had not been in control of the ball when touching it down. However, a touch judge intervened to point out that Hape had taken out Cox with his shoulder off the ball in a move that also saw the centre throw a swinging arm at another back-row replacement, Roddy Grant.

Greig Laidlaw kicked the penalty to put Edinburgh in front for the second time and they held on against 14 men for only their second away victory in the Heineken Cup in 24 matches. Hape returned for the minute when Irish had lost the ball after a three-minute, multiphase movement on halfway.

Edinburgh deserved it for the enterprise they showed and their ability to get the ball wide under pressure. Hape's best moment – taking a short pass at pace from an attacking scrum and getting behind the defence before neatly off-loading to Joe Ansbro, had resulted in a penalty for Irish, which Tom Homer converted to extend Irish's lead to 19-10.

For all the power they exerted up front, Irish missed their injured three-quarters, lacking the pace to complement their ambition. When they needed to tighten up the game and pin back Edinburgh, they became embroiled in a match that at times bordered on the anarchic: the more shape it lacked, the better it suited the visitors.

There had been no indication of an upset at the start, Homer kicked two long-range penalties in as many minutes, but the ease with which Edinburgh scored with one of their first attacks, Visser taking Denton's long pass at pace before timing an inside pass to the supporting Lee Jones, suggested a close contest.

Edinburgh's biggest problem was themselves: they kept conceding soft penalties, none more so than when Ross Rennie entered a ruck from the side in front of the referee to allow Homer to restore Irish's lead. Ross Samson's try put Irish 16-7 ahead, but Harry Leonard was on target from 45 metres shortly before the break.

Leonard had a mixed afternoon, relieved of the goal-kicking after missing a 25-metre penalty and twice kicking the ball out on the full when players had been free outside him, but the 19-year-old was not afraid to attack the line and one pass in the second-half saw him aim the ball from left to right only for it to travel in the opposite direction.

Irish did not quite know where they were going. Hape may yet follow Tindall into international exile, although he has shown that there is a footballing side to his game that England never seemed interested in exploiting, and England's midfielders could be forgiven for thinking that the world is against them.